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Susan Collins Folds Like A Cheap Suit

in other news water is wet, fire is hot

By: streiff (Diary)  |  December 9th, 2010 at 04:24 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

A week ago the Senate Republican caucus sent a letter to Harry Reid telling him that they would not support acting on any legislation until the Congress vital business had been taken care of:

For that reason, we write to inform you that we will not agree to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to any legislative item until the Senate has acted to fund the government and we have prevented the tax increase that is currently awaiting all American taxpayers. With little time left in this Congressional session, legislative scheduling should be focused on these critical priorities. While there are other items that might ultimately be worthy of the Senate’s attention, we cannot agree to prioritize any matters above the critical issues of funding the government and preventing a job-killing tax hike.

Well, that didn’t last long. Today Susan Collins continued her career long practice of duplicity by reneging on her agreement with her caucus and voting for cloture on the pressing subject of legalizing buggery in the Armed Forces. A vote that failed.

As DrewM notes over at Ace of Spades:

For some reason, Reid decided he’d cut off the negotiations and call up the bill. Collins showed up on the floor to ask Reid what was going on considering she seemed to think they were close to a deal. Reid basically told her to stuff it and moved to the vote.

[...]

Wow, Collins votes Aye. Reid tells her to go to hell and she says, “Thank you for that informative suggestion, I will do just that!”

The problem with our moderates is not only that they don’t believe in anything not even in the sanctity of their own pledge to their caucus.

COMMENTS

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  • notalibertarian

    which could have organized calls to potential “yes” votes’ offices reminding liberal Republicans that they are obligated to focus on the Bush tax cuts.

    • streiff

      that we could have changed her mind after she’d already given her word that she would not vote for cloture on any bill until the tax bill was passed and the government funded?

      I find that notion simply blinding in its stupidity.

      • notalibertarian

        Sen. Collins is not the only problem, here. Brown, Murk, and others are now going to go into tonight’s vote feeling like NO ONE really cares if they vote for repeal now.

        • notalibertarian

          is willing to bring up Lieberman’s stand-alone “before the end of session”.

          Maybe conservatives could try actually talking about this issue — instead of ignoring it — so we can scuttle this disaster.

        • streiff

          tell me you aren’t saying that the opinion of people she doesn’t know from states where she’s not running for office are going to dissuade her from doing this even though her signature pledging to not do it wasn’t sufficient.

          • notalibertarian

            Why are you acting as though RedState has not tried to stop something like this in the past?

          • streiff

            explain to me how RedState is to blame, or more importantly, why what RedState thinks would have an affect her promise to her colleagues did not?

            I’m trying to be fair to you here but you’re making it real hard.

            BTW Machin is a Dem.

          • notalibertarian

            Why are you focusing on Collins and ignoring everyone else?

            When conservative sites post on issues and encourage people from swing-senators’ states to call those senators to inform them of their opposition, sometimes senators actually listen to the callers. Did you notice how hard it was to get Healthcare Reform through? That was because the public melted the phone lines.

            RedState is one of a number of conservative sites that let this issue slip through the cracks.

            I’m pretty sure I’m going to be called an “idiot” soon, so perhaps we should just end this exchange.

          • streiff

            1. We really haven’t taken a position on DADT so because we haven’t taken a position we probably wouldn’t organize calls.

            2. This isn’t about DADT, it is about Collins. Of course the title and the story would have given that away had you bothered to read them.

            Now obviously you don’t have any answers to any of this or you would have presented them by now. I’d suggest that in the future you know what you’re talking about before shooting your mouth off and failing that at least read the story before commenting.

          • notalibertarian

            Chiding me “this isn’t about DADT, it’s about Collins” as if I need to read your post against because I’m just soooo off-topic here is extremely weak.

            The point is that conservatives could have mobilized BOTH social cons and fiscal cons to contact all of these moderate senators urging them to hold on to their pledge in that LETTER (Hey, that’s on-topic!) in repsonse to the clear signs that this DADT is the lowest-hanging fruit the Dems have right now.

          • Bill S

            And if you don’t want your ID to become “notaredstatemember”, you should probably take your own advice and bow out now.

          • AceInTX

            as did the rest…Why would Red State or anyone else have to get on the phones and remind anyone that they signed a pledge and urge them to stick to it….

            THAT IS THE ISSUE!

            how you can conflate Collins making a contract if you will…with her caucus to not vote for cloture on anything till the tax increases and the budget are disposed of….with Red State not doing anything is beyond me….That’s what Streiff is trying to get through your thick skull…

            Red State should not have to tell a sitting Senator that her word should mean something….the fact that Collins has so little regard for the value of her word is what’s at issue…..and that’s the ONLY issue

          • itrytobenice

            Well said.

            Honor should mean something, and your word is your bond. If it’s no good, you’re not either.

          • AceInTX
          • notalibertarian

            “On Manchin, aide says: ‘I would say that if he was somehow the 60th vote, I do not think he would have voted the way he did’”

            Are you saying WV wants DADT to be repealed?

          • joayn

            streiff’s point: THIS IS ABOUT COLLINS BREAKING HER PLEDGE. And in a most stupid, stupid, foolish and idiotic way.

            All other Republicans held the line except Collins. Reread the article and the article at Ace.

          • http://www.examiner.com/x-1597-Charlotte-Law--Politics-Examiner Mike gamecock DeVine

            votes on budget and taxes given that this is a Lame Dick Congress after a game-changing wave election that changes the majority in the House. The GOP 42 in the Senate should have honored the tea partier electorate and only agreed to allow votes on vital matters. They should not have agreed to votes on anything else even if allowed tax vote.

            And didn’t the vote on the DREAM act violate that letter too? Obviously so, since the tax bill hasn’t been voted on yet!

            Nor has the continuing res on govt operations, right?

          • AceInTX
          • http://www.examiner.com/x-1597-Charlotte-Law--Politics-Examiner Mike gamecock DeVine
          • AceInTX
          • notalibertarian

            from states where she’s not running for office are going to dissuade her from doing this.

            Happy?

            What I am saying is that the anti-repeal movement is in a much weaker position going into Lieberman’s stand-alone attempt because conservative sites like RedState couldn’t be bothered.

  • notalibertarian

    Not a lot of time left before tonight to get people to call their senators’ offices to tell them to stand firm, though.

    • joayn

      A new bill will require another cloture motion filing, after which the Senate has to wait two days before invoking cloture. If passed, then it would have to go to the House. Because the house holds the purse, they’d probably have to make adjustments to it and send it back to the Senate, so who knows what it’ll get turned into. The Dems in the house will feel compelled to put their stinky mark on it and screw the whole deal. Hope so.

      Collins, Brown and Murkowski were in talks with Reid when he said screw it, and Brown and Murk voted no. Hopefully, they’ll hold that stance tonight.

      • notalibertarian

        I thought it made sense that a conservative website would do what it can to optimize our chances of scuttling this repeal. Streiff has made it clear that the management RedState doesn’t really have a problem with repeal. Fabulous.

        Now I know.

        • Bill S

          You can appeal to the Contact link if you would like to get your membership reactivated.

  • izoneguy

    Why did she vote yes???

    And did Reid tell her to go to hell before or after she voted Yes????

    Reid can show Collins the way to hell, he exists there.

  • hardwired

    See here is a great example of how some people who call themselves conservatives do not understand our Constitution. The text of the Tenth Amendment is “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” Bugger away!

    • hardwired

      the Constitution limits the state’s behavior. We are endowed by our Creator with inalienable rights, and our freedom does not come from Washington, it comes from God.

      • streiff

        before I punt you for being an idiot.

        It is surreal to find you quoting God as a reason why His law cannot be enforced.

    • streiff

      the Armed Forces are governed by the federal government. Check out Article 1 of the Constitution you goofuses are so fond of quoting but have never read.

    • Twang

      Just as an individual gives up certain rights such as to live where he choses, say whatever he chooses, or wear the clothing he chooses, when he joins the military, he also gives up the right to buggery. Why? Because HOMOMSEXUALITY IS INCOMPATIBLE WITH MILITARY LIFE. Get it through your head. Gays in the military just wont work.

      • streiff

        we’re not arguing the merits of the current law or DADT in this thread. If you want to do that start your own diary. The issue here is very simple: the failure of a senator to keep her word to her colleagues.

        • rdelbov

          on the policy and I agree with you that Collins action is bewildering.

          Reid slapped all the republicans down forcing these votes

          Heck Pelosi slapped the President down having the vote last week while he was talking to the GOP.

          rudeness is a DC thing?

        • PaladinLostHour

          Tactical: Redstate *should* be leading a campaign to flood the wobblies lines with calls = and, more to the point, McConnell and Kyl, letting them know exactly how much cr*p is going to fall on their heads if they can’t maintain party discipline

          Strategic: Collins needs to be primaried, and pressure needs to be put on the Republican Senatorial Committee to stay *OUT* of the contest. Not cause she’s a moderate – but because she’s egregiously breaking party discipline and undermining a coherent Republican message.

          (I’d suggest the same for Scott Brown, but what’s the point – he’s gone in 2012 anyhow)

      • froster

        It’s working right now, under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. That’s the way policy should be.

  • fpete13527
    • Common_Cents
      • jeffreywturner

        She talks like she has just knocked back about a half-dozen shots of Bacardi 151.

        I keep waiting for her to say “I can drive, really, I’m fine. Where are my keys?”

        Does she actually have a medical condition that causes her to have a speech impediment or does she just suck at speaking?

        • throwback59

          looks and sounds exactly like Charlotte Rae’s Mrs. Garrett from the 80′s sitcom “Facts of Life.”
          How can you take someone seriously who is a dead-ringer for a sitcom charactor?

          • Common_Cents

            They’d probably talk like Dudley Moore in Arthur!

  • Twang

    …from anyone who would willingly choose to live in Maine.

    • america1st

      Many good – and conservative – folks in Maine.

      Unfortunately, upper New England has been inundated by critters slithering north from the concrete warrens of the East Coast, bringing their statist views with them. The two RINO queens are simply symptomatic of a larger, most unfortunate, demographic trend wherein the clueless are befouling larger tracts of America.

  • Marcus_Traianus

    Perhaps she should get an MRI?

    So much for the cohesiveness of a Republican “Moderate” caucus. Even the Ice Princess from Alaska skipped this one.

    In other news, I am waiting for the next Congress so we can watch Ron Paul take over The Financial Services Committee from Barney Frank. That ought to be good for a few laughs.

    • tngal

      The dems (and some mod repububs) can still do damage with their final days this year. The “Dream Act” cloture vote got a reprieve for a few days and all hands are needed on deck for it to get to get knocked down. While many “sites” are claiming its dead in the senate I would not put a lot of money on it. Then again I didn’t put money on Susan Collins with her DADT vote either. Every call counts, every email,. I don’t mean to sound conspiratorial, but I think they’ve been trying to focus all media attention on the tax issue and hoping noone notices the passages of dadt and the amnesty act.

  • itrytobenice

    Collins gives new meaning to the words.

    She was in a perfect position to have her cake and eat it too. She could have told her liberal Yankee sycophants that she supported DADT except she believed that they had to have a cohesive and stable tax and budget process as their first order of business, and then she could have voted against DADT to pacify the remaining Rs in Maine who think she is a conservative.

    But she removes her mask, shows herself to be a lying coward, sticks her soft underbelly in the air and lets Harry Reid take a big bite out of it. (Yes, yuck.)

    Remember when our founding fathers pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor for the country? Are voters just so stupid that we can’t find anyone like that anymore or is there no honor left?

  • joayn

    Collin’s number.

    I’d say a few calls are in order.

  • http://www.facebook.com/BigGator5 BigGator5

    I don’t think we can call her a Republican anymore. I’m with DrewM on this one, she’s an Idiot. I also don’t object to DADT per say (because honestly, if gays and lesbians want to die on the battlefield, who am I to say no?), but her breaking ranks like this when she signed a pledge is unforgivable.

  • nessa

    …”You are responsible for everything your Soldiers do or fail to do.” How ’bout it Mitch? How about the GOP electing a Minority Leader with a testicle and/or a spine? Both is apparently asking too much.

    • AceInTX

      heh

      • nessa
        • AceInTX

  • NeoKong

    Do you remember all the whining about how we could have taken the seat with Mike Castle…?
    I do.
    Susan Collins is the perfect example of why it is better to let a Democrat control the seat than a squish like Collins.
    She will betray the party again and again.
    That is what she is famous for.
    If we cannot rely on her when an important vote comes along then what good is she to the party ? She cannot be trusted.

    • rdelbov

      go back on her word but Dame Pelosi did the big back stabbing today.

      She is delaying the votes on the “Deal” until changes are made. I believe that too would give the GOP senators enough of an excuse to delay other actions until an agreeded upon “Deal” is struck. I Don’t believe the GOP will okay the “Deal” in the senate then let the house not vote. That’s no “deal” at all. That’s a sham deal.

      There’s a chance that Pelosi has killed the Dream act-DADT and Start in one swoop.

    • froster

      as that should be a long retired topic…

      but just imagine if the Democrats had had 67 votes during this session. (one for Snowe & Collins & Gregg & Brown & Lugar & Voinovich & Murkowski) Am I missing anyone? We’d be on our way to single payer and other socialist legislation (x4) if that was the case. Don’t forget that besides from Lugar, all the Democrats would be VERY liberal.

      Ultimately, Susan Collins is better than Mike Michaud and Chellie Pingree. It’s just that simple.

  • earlgrey
  • AceInTX

    She’s a liberal and should be referred to as such.

    And why is anyone surprised she would fold…the idea that she would say she was going to do ANYTHING and stick to it is a sick joke!

    • lexington_concord

      You’ll note that Snowe held the line today.

      In relative terms, almost everyone is a liberal in comparison to someone. In comparison to Bernie Sanders, Snowe is pretty darn conservative. In comparison to Jim Demint, she’s pretty darn liberal.

      That is why, more often than not, it is appropriate to call her “moderate.”

      Collins is also a moderate, just (apparently) a less honest one.

      • AceInTX

        The are liberal on most issues and conservative on the rest. but by and large Collins and Snowe are liberals on more issues than they are conservative therefore I say they are liberals…as was Specter and Chafee

        • zornorph

          She’s not liberal. If she is, then who the hell would you think is a moderate? Compare her voting record to Brown of Ohio and tell me you still think she’s liberal.

          • AceInTX
          • froster

            No. But she doesn’t vote against every one of them. Thus, the definition, moderate.

            There is a difference between a moderate and a liberal.

          • Menlo

            To me, a “moderate” is someone who takes a middle ground across the board.

            I would say someone who takes a combination of liberal and conservative positions is better described as simply an independent.

            The “absent-minded” category is one all to itself, and I think that may be the best fit here.

            I guess we’ve all got different labels.

          • AceInTX

            she votes liberal 80% of the time…Conservative 20

            SHE’S A LIBERAL

          • JSobieski

            http://www.votesmart.org/issue_rating_detail.php?r_id=4785&rtype=

          • JSobieski

            Just a handful of house members do (by a point or two), and Taylor is the only Dem elected official with a lifetime ACU rating significantly higher than Collins.

          • AceInTX

            you are correct….her lifetime score is 49 which would make her what I would call a true moderate if her lifetime score is considered.

            If 2008 and other non election years has her in the 20s….that would make her a liber playing at being a moderate in election years.

            I guess it can be argued both ways…I will admit I was thinking her 2008 rating was her lifetime rating off the top of my head because that’s the way I remembered it…My bad

            Thanks for correcting me and allowing me an oportunity to clarify my argument and correct the error.

          • AceInTX
          • JSobieski

            I wish the ACU would publish stats on average R rating, average R Senator rating, etc.

            However, no matter how you slice it . .. .12 is abysmal.

  • Menlo

    That sounds more like stupidity than anything else. Did she have a clue what she was doing?

    I’ve not read a whole lot about her history, but I’ve seen enough to know this is not the first time I’ve questioned her intelligence.

    • pilgrim
      • Scope

        Would it matter which one of the renagade R Senators he take out? It seems that they take turns on who is going to fall on the sword against the Republicans, except those times when they both try to share that space.

        • captkirc

          Via Politico two days ago:

          “My relationship with Olympia Snowe transcends politics. I would always support Olympia Snowe. It has nothing to do with politics, it’s all about a personal relationship,” says LePage. “I wouldn’t be standing here if it wasn’t for Peter Snowe to a great extent.”

          http://www.politico.com/blogs/davidcatanese/1210/Why_LePage_will_stick_with_Snowe.html

        • pilgrim
    • AceInTX

      Is she that thick?

      • Mike Ferguson
  • smitch61

    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703766704576009322838245628.html?mod=rss_opinion_main

  • zornorph

    You know, when you reduce DADT to ‘legalizing buggery’, you sound ignorant. Like you are trying to invoke the ‘yuck’ factor for something you don’t like.

    • avgjo

      (myself included) not liking this, it is essential. The fact that they engage in this behavior AND THEN want public affirmation for it exacerbates the problem and makes legislation necessary.

      In recent days, American Spectator reviewed a book by a woman who says that many oppose ‘gay rights’ and use graphic descriptions of what homosexuals do to turn opinion against them. Did you read that book?

      What really gets me about ‘gay’ activists is that their entire life centers around a certain behavior, and they cannot keep that behavior to themselves. The whole DADT issue is ridiculous. Everyone keeps saying that homosexuality has no bearing how they can serve. If that’s true, why is it even necessary to bring up their sexuality, if it has no function on how they serve? I do know that many guys here who have served have talked about how this can affect living conditions for straight soldiers. Their word is good enough for me.

      • lyddea

        discharge people out of the military if they mention that they…

        visited a prostitute?
        engaged in “non-standard” sexual relations with a member of the opposite sex?
        had an abortion?
        are an atheist?
        are primarily attracted to members of a different ethnic group?

        Because all of those things will “gross” a lot of people out (ewwww). Like homosexuality none of those things are illegal, but unlike homosexuality we don’t kick people out of the military if one of those things is found out about someone.

        You don’t have the right to not be offended. Not in America, and not even in the military. And DADT is nothing more than an enshrinement of the false right to not be offended.

        When we integrated the armed forces, believe you me there were even more people who were uncomfortable. But the people who mattered were more than that, they were Americans, soldiers and professionals. And that’s why integration worked, and made our country and her military stronger. As it will do so, again.

        • avgjo

          BTW, that extends to homosexuals. They don’t have a right not to be offended. They want DADT repealed because it offends their sensibilities regarding their ‘right’ to openly proclaim that they are homosexuals. The difference between integration of color and integration of sexual preference is that one is a characteristic one is born with and one is a lifestyle/personality disorder/choice whatever you wanna call it. It is insulting to people of color to make such comparisons.

          Also, visting a prostitute IS illegal most places. Abortion once was illegal and now is not, just as homosexuality once was considered a personality disorder and now is not; in both cases, ‘legitimized’ by a small group of people, self-styled elites. Is our society any better since these happened? An argument can certainly be made that it is not.

          As for your assertion that ‘integration’ will ‘do so again’, have you asked the soldiers/veterans here what they think? I myself am getting ready to do ROTC; I’ll serve my country (Lord willing) whether or not the homosexual activists get the affirmation they want, but i can tell you, it won’t be comfortable for me. Of course, all this talk about ‘rights not to be offended’ and who is uncomfortable with what is all a one-way street with the militant homosexual activists and their supporters.

        • trutexan

          to pimp out the will of a minority over an entire country?

          I know this string is about Collins but these bottom posts took up the DADT issue. Collins didn’t do anything that surprised me and her voters don’t seem to care about her behavior anyway. Like the sub-line said, water is wet and fire is hot. Nothing to see here…move along.

          If DADT is repealed, the next step is for the US military to recognize gay marriage. How on earth is a gay couple supposed to be married in Mass. and not married in Montana once stationed there? As military members PCS (permanent change of station) around the globe every 2-4 years, most take their families with them. They are a close knit bunch and live almost a completely different lifestyle than their civilian counter parts. Before retiring, military members are told to “civilianize” their resumes because the duty title of First Sergeant doesn’t mean diddly to a company like Walgreens. I simply don’t understand how civilians have so much to say about anything that goes on behind the gates of the military unless they have served.

          So IF DADT is repealed and subsequently gay marriage is then recognized, the will of a few minority gay activists will be using the US military to pimp out their will on the American people. There is no other federal organization that has this issue and it’s resentful for the gay community to use the US military in this fashion. Why don’t fat people take up the issue that the military doesn’t allow fat people? Why don’t the long hairs take up the fact that the military makes you cut your hair? Why don’t the staff of What Not To Wear take up a position against cammo? The States don’t want gay marriage and until they do, gays and their supporters will have to get over it.

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